LONDON, UK – Three Canadian athletes made their mark in London on day three of the 2012 Olympic Games by qualifying into later rounds.
Derek Drouin
In the men’s high jump both Derek Drouin of Corunna, Ont., and Michael Mason of Nanoose Bay, B.C., advanced to final taking place Tuesday August 7. Drouin finished second in group A qualifying with a mark of 2.29-metres. “It was stressful. I’m not one to have a lot of misses like that. I usually like to clear on my first try; I’m not sure what was going on. I’m relieved to get through and excited for the final.”
Mason tied for sixth place in group B qualifying with a performance of 2.26-metres. “It was a bit of a tough day technically. It took me a while to get going and find my mark. Getting my third attempt at 2.26m secured my spot in the final. I’m relieved and looking forward it.”
In the women’s 400-metre hurdles Sarah Wells of Unionville, Ont., finished fourth in her heat to automatically qualify for tomorrow’s semi final. Wells stopped the clock at 56.47 seconds. “To make the semis was a goal so that’s checked off, I’m capable of more so we’ll hopefully see that tomorrow.” The semi final runs at 20:15 local time (15:15 eastern time).
Justyn Warner of Markham, Ont., finished fifth in his 100-metre semi final in a time of 10.09 seconds. Warner said of his semi final performance, “It was crazy. I didn’t get a good start and tried to fight my way through it. I’m trying not to beat myself up too much about it, two personal bests in two days at the Olympic Games. I knew I had to be less than ten seconds to move onto the finals.” Warner did not advance to the final which was won by Usain Bolt of Jamaica in an Olympic record time of 9.63 seconds.
Nathan Brannen of Cambridge, Ont., took to the men’s 1500-metres semi final with a clear objective of making the final but unfortunately went down halfway through the race. Brannen showed true heart getting back up and battling his way back into the race. The fall was just too much to overcome and he finished twelfth overall in a time of 3:39.26.
Athletics Canada appealed Nate Brannen’s finish in semi final #1 of the 1500-metres based on Rule 163.2. The rule allows for the possibility of an athlete seriously affected by obstructing or jostling to be placed in the next round provided they complete the event with a bona fide effort. We felt this was the case as Nate made contact with another runner and went down hard midway through the race. He got up and ran hard to place 12th in the semi final.
The jury of appeal looked at the video, it clearly showed that Nate clipped the heel of the athlete in front of him, went down, and then was stepped on while he was on the ground. That’s where the damage to his leg and spike marks came from
As a result of the video evidence the jury of appeal turned the appeal down and Nate Brannen will not be placed in the final of the 1500m.
Canadian in action on day 4
| Name | Event | Local Time | Eastern Time |
| Jessica Zelinka Nikkita Holder Phylicia George |
100m Hurdles – Heat 1 100m Hurdles – Heat 4 100m Hurdles – Heat 6 |
10:05 10:26 10:40 |
05:06 05:26 05:40 |
| Julie Labonté | Shot Put – Qualifying | 10:45 | 05:45 |
| Geoff Harris | 800m – Heat 4 | 11:14 | 06:14 |
| Hillary Stellingwerff Nicole Sifuentes |
1500m – Heat 1 1500m Heat 4 |
11:45 12:12 |
06:45 07:12 |
| Julie Labonté* | Shot Put – Final | 19:15 | 14:15 |
| Crystal Emmaunel | 200m – Heats | 20:00 | 15:00 |
| Sarah Wells | 400m Hurdles – Semi final | 20:15 | 15:1 |
*pending earlier qualification
